Report from Antonia Yalta (October, November, December 2015)

 “And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul” Deuteronomy 10:12

Recent Events

Teaching Children

Throughout this whole time we have been teaching the children the stories of the Bible. What encourages us every day is the perseverance of the children and the young people. They ask us to continue to teach the Bible stories.  

In November we all visited the tombs of the dead. The cemeteries of the children and the adults are quite far away. Cristina and I went with five children to visit the tombs of the children. It was a long distance, we had to go up hills holding on to trees and we also had to walk in the rain. A very small child warned us, “Sisters, we have to go without making any noise or playing because the souls of the dead are going to listen to us and they are going to follow us to cause us harm."  We arrived at the cemetery and we found the tombs of the children with lots of gifts including food. The children asked us, “Sister, do the dead eat?”  After we visited the tombs I sat down with the children to do a review of the story of the rich man and Lazarus and they could say “Sister, when a person dies the soul doesn’t stay here on earth! So it is a lie that they eat. We are going to believe in God."  It is important to know their culture to be able to do the discipleship. 

Construction of Walls

We travelled with four young people from the city of Lima to construct the walls of the houses of three old Ashaninca people. They worked for four days without stopping to finish them. On the last day we ate together with the old people and they expressed their gratitude to the young people saying “I have never had a house like this and I am grateful to the young people who have been sent from God to construct my walls.  Now the wind in the night isn’t going to blow the mosquito net of me and also we aren’t going to feel the cold”. 

November & December

The classes in the school and the college finished in November due to El Niño. Some students finished secondary school and they left the community. Some go to the farms and others leave for the city to look for work. For them we have been teaching the Word of God at night and at 6am until we got up to the redemptive work of Christ. When we arrive at this part of the lesson young people responded saying “Christ gave His blood on the cross for our sin and God has forgiven us, and now we aren’t going to be eternally condemned.”

Later I taught about the great commission and the ascension of Christ. The interpreter made them see the harvest fields mentioning the communities next to them that don’t have the Word of God. He said in their language, “we have to go and take the good news of salvation so that they don’t go to eternal condemnation.”  When we arrived at the part about the return of Christ, Victor put a lot of emotion into the translation to Ashaninca.  “Christ will return as a judge and soon it will be the return of Christ, some will go to eternal life and some will go to eternal condemnation.”

After many difficulties and testings we have been able to arrive at this stage. After this long journey I have been really encouraged to continue teaching the Word and discipling more people in the community. The ex-chief has been reconciled to God and comes with his wife at night to our house to continue to learn about God. 

The visits to homes are very frequent and we find people who are reading the Bible.

Sewing and Craft Classes

Always when we taught the Word before the work the women were in a hurry to start working. Now when they start with the crafts we say to them “while you are working we are going to tell you some Bible stories.”  Then I realised that they stopped working and they started listening and asking questions when we did this.

Chocolate Drink Programme

I give thanks to the Lord for helping us to share in the chocolate drink programme with 200 children and old people. 

We went to ask the chief for the use of the community vehicle to take us to Pampa Mercado. The chief accepted, we just had to put in the petrol. However I was only taken one way.  

When we arrived we taught the Word of God, we prepared the chocolate drink programme for more than 50 children, and we gave out the presents. There was a lot of rain on that day and the vehicle waited for us for the return trip. The driver told us “the tyres are very worn” and now he couldn’t detain the boat. It looked like it returned. Thanks to God we could get back to our home in the community.

Lima

I returned to Lima to finish off the finances as treasurer of Segadores (for the end of the year).

While there I assisted in the chocolate drink ministry with the children who came from the settlements in the Lima hills. They come every Saturday to our Segadores Missions Centre to listen to the Word of God. There is a group of teachers who are teaching the Bible in a chronological order. 

Personal 

I went to a neurosurgeon for the back column problems and the hernias that I have. The result is that I have contractions in the column and also he told me that I have to change my activity because I have a very delicate back. Thanks to God I have started therapy after many years.  I am ready to continue going to the communities because there isn’t anyone else that will speak of Christ and if no one goes, they will go to eternal condemnation. 

Prayer and Praise Points

1) Pray for the children and young people that they will stay firm in their faith in Christ.
2) Pray for Victor Soto (the interpreter) that he will continue to have the passion to take the Good News of salvation to the native communities.
3) That God will provide relief for the pain in my back.
4) That God will bring workers for the native communities ready to put in their time for the love of the lost.
5) That God will provide for the fuel to go to other communities taking the Good News of Salvation.
6) That God will provide the resources to continue with the canteens for the extremely poor children and old people.

Comments

I am grateful to God for all the people who prayed so that the Word of God got to these difficult places in 2015.

I am grateful to every one of you who strengthened my life and my ministry with your prayers and offerings.